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{{Cquote|Despite President [[Essay: Vladimir Putin is a corrupt kleptocrat and an authoritarian|Vladimir Putin]]’s bluster yesterday that “it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield,” there’s no question the last twelve months have been  terrible for his nation. But frankly, Russia has had not just a disastrous year, but a couple of bad centuries.

{{Cquote|Despite President [[Essay: Vladimir Putin is a corrupt kleptocrat and an authoritarian|Vladimir Putin]]’s bluster yesterday that “it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield,” there’s no question the last twelve months have been  terrible for his nation. But frankly, Russia has had not just a disastrous year, but a couple of bad centuries.

Just over 200 years ago, [[Napoleon]] invaded Russia, eventually occupying and burning Moscow before the Russian army, aided by a brutal winter, was able to eject the [[France|French]] Grande Armee at a cost of more than half a million casualties on both sides. In the middle of the 19th century, Russia lost the [[Crimean War]] against the combined forces of the [[United Kingdom|UK]], France and the [[Ottoman Empire]], crippling the Imperial Russian Army (500,000 casualties in a two-year war), losing the Crimean Peninsula, and forfeiting the right to base warships in the [[Black Sea]].  

Just over 200 years ago, [[Napoleon]] invaded Russia, eventually occupying and burning [[Moscow]] before the Russian army, aided by a brutal winter, was able to eject the [[France|French]] Grande Armee at a cost of more than half a million casualties on both sides. In the middle of the 19th century, Russia lost the [[Crimean War]] against the combined forces of the [[United Kingdom|UK]], France and the [[Ottoman Empire]], crippling the Imperial Russian Army (500,000 casualties in a two-year war), losing the [[Crimea]]n Peninsula, and forfeiting the right to base warships in the [[Black Sea]].  

The Russian Navy was essentially destroyed by [[Japan]] in the [[Russo-Japanese War]] of 1904-1905, suffering a humiliating loss of eight battleships in the lopsided Battle of Tsushima while inflicting virtually no damage to the Japanese Imperial Fleet. A dozen years later, as the Russian empire imploded after the Bolshevik revolution, Western armies invaded to pick up the spoils. All that occurred before [[Germany]] invaded and destroyed much of the Russian army in the early days of [[World War II]], notably at the battle of [[Stalingrad]], where Russia suffered close to a million casualties in a year of fighting, albeit ultimately achieving victory.

The Russian Navy was essentially destroyed by [[Japan]] in the [[Russo-Japanese War]] of 1904-1905, suffering a humiliating loss of eight battleships in the lopsided Battle of [[Tsushima]] while inflicting virtually no damage to the Japanese Imperial Fleet. A dozen years later, as the Russian empire imploded after the Bolshevik revolution, Western armies invaded to pick up the spoils. All that occurred before [[Germany]] invaded and destroyed much of the Russian army in the early days of [[World War II]], notably at the battle of [[Stalingrad]], where Russia suffered close to a million casualties in a year of fighting, albeit ultimately achieving victory.

A decade ago, as the supreme allied commander of the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]], I would meet occasionally with my counterpart in Russia, General Nikolai Makarov (not to be confused with General Vladimir Makarov, a failed Russian commander in Ukraine who committed suicide in Moscow this month). Makarov would remind me of those centuries of war and humiliation. “Too much history,” he once said. Russians have a lot of scar tissue from the last 200 years.<ref>[https://archive.md/ya4oV#selection-3471.0-3471.55 Getting Pummeled in War Is a 200-Year Russian Tradition] by James Stavridis, Bloomberg News, February 23, 2023</ref>}}

A decade ago, as the supreme allied commander of the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]], I would meet occasionally with my counterpart in Russia, General Nikolai Makarov (not to be confused with General Vladimir Makarov, a failed Russian commander in Ukraine who committed suicide in Moscow this month). Makarov would remind me of those centuries of war and humiliation. “Too much history,” he once said. Russians have a lot of scar tissue from the last 200 years.<ref>[https://archive.md/ya4oV#selection-3471.0-3471.55 Getting Pummeled in War Is a 200-Year Russian Tradition] by James Stavridis, Bloomberg News, February 23, 2023</ref>}}

While not diminishing the number of casualties in the Second World War on the Russian side, we must not forget that the victory was also largely based on the casualties of Ukrainians, [[Belarus|Belarusians]], and a long list of other nations. And it was not only the victory of the [[Soviet Union]], but also the victory of the [[Allies]], including their own casualties.

While not diminishing the number of casualties in the Second World War on the Russian side, we must not forget that the victory was also largely based on the casualties of Ukrainians, [[Belarus|Belarusians]], and a long list of other nations. And it was not only the victory of the [[Soviet Union]], but also the victory of the [[Allies]], including their own casualties.

We also cannot forget the violent and imperial nature of [[Moscow]]'s policy during the Soviet campaign, which resulted in the creation of a colonial system of socialist satellites, which Moscow referred to as the "peace camp."

We also cannot forget the violent and imperial nature of Moscow's policy during the Soviet campaign, which resulted in the creation of a colonial system of socialist satellites, which Moscow referred to as the "peace camp."

...The Russian Empire fought a series of conflicts with the west, in what is now Ukraine and Belarus. Before the reign of [[Peter the Great]], they fought quite unsuccessfully against the Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Poles, and the Swedes. According to statistics compiled by Vladimir Solovyov, a great Russian historian of the late nineteenth century, Russia lost more than 70% of the 50 wars in the north and west from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century.

...The Russian Empire fought a series of conflicts with the west, in what is now Ukraine and Belarus. Before the reign of [[Peter the Great]], they fought quite unsuccessfully against the Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Poles, and the Swedes. According to statistics compiled by Vladimir Solovyov, a great Russian historian of the late nineteenth century, Russia lost more than 70% of the 50 wars in the north and west from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century.